Preserve Corner`s `Hiring Hall`

June 21, 1985

OBVIOUSLY THERE are problems along Sistrunk Boulevard and Northwest Fifth Street, between 12th and 15th avenues, in Fort Lauderdale. Loitering, prostitution and drug selling occur in the neighborhood, and the city is moving to deal with those problems.

In so doing, however, the city and black community leaders must make sure they find a workable substitute for an informal ``hiring hall`` that has existed for years at Sistrunk Boulevard and Northwest Sixth Avenue.

At that corner, men and women congregate and wait for someone to drive by and offer a day`s work as a painter, laborer or field worker. The wages are low, but at least some of the people ``hanging out`` on the corner are able to support themselves and avoid seeking welfare.

It`s even possible, as one of the people on the corner said, that they would turn to crime if the unofficial hiring hall is eliminated.

The ``hiring hall`` aspect of life on the corner should be preserved. Perhaps the city can buy the lot there, clean it up and provide some sort of shelter, or find a nearby location that would be just as suitable.

Just because the way these men and women make their living doesn`t fall into the usual job categories doesn`t mean it shouldn`t be preserved.

Less desirable activities at that corner, and elsewhere in the neighborhood, obviously must be curbed. Stolen goods are hawked at the corner by young criminals who stop by; some of them threaten or take money from the older people who are waiting for job calls.

Other crimes occur too often in the neighborhood, and a Black Community Leaders Subcommittee initiated by Mayor Robert Dressler has made recommendations to the City Commission on how to reduce them.

One recommendation is for a greater police presence in the neighborhood.

The subcommittee also asked the city to create a seven-member Northwest Advisory Board to deal with problems in that largely black area, and the City Commission agreed to do so. The board will be similar in form to the city`s Beach Advisory Board.

The Northwest Advisory Board and City Commission should move ahead in improving conditions in that section of the city, and the first steps look promising.

They shouldn`t forget, however, that a form of the hiring hall should be retained.